My Updated Thoughts on Persona 5 Royal [FULL SPOILERS]

This is a follow up to my last post on Persona 5. I feel like documenting my thoughts on this game. Like I said before, I played this hundred plus hour RPG three total times. That is not something I do often. Clearly I love this game. So why don't I look back fondly at it? I want to fix that. I believe it's important to be able to acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses of a work of art. Over the past near-decade, it feels like the internet and persona fanbase chose to focus on the negatives with P5, and opted to put it down rather than acknowledge the things it does well and understand why it became as popular as it did. I'd like to remind myself why I came to love this game so much and also have a fresh understanding of the game. This will be a rolling blog post. I started writing it on Wednesday, June 24th, 2026. 

Off the bat, it is impossible to talk about Persona 5 without mentioning it's immaculate presentation. Opening up with a thrilling casino heist escape through in media res, the tone of the game is immediately established. It's going for a very different energy than Persona 3 and 4. Everything you see on screen is just striking, from the bright vibrant colors of the environments, to the stylish text boxes and hud elements, and even the little details of "chatter chatter" popping up from background characters. 

Once it gets to the start of the story in April, the tone of the game drastically changes to be much more low energy and mundane. The music is slower and more relaxed, and the overall color palette on display has a much lower contrast. There's still the very strong presentation from the menu and art but the juxtaposition between the opening of the game to the start of the story is very strong. The goal goes from "Escape the casino" to "Live an honest student life." While it's a common technique with non linear storytelling, it's a great hook for this game. 

The first arc of the game is the one that leaves the strongest impression. Kamoshida is without a doubt one of the best antagonists of the game. Not only are his villainous acts utterly detestable, but we see it impact multiple characters, including Joker. We see two cast members, Ann and Ryuji, as well as other side characters, Mishima and Shiho, get hurt by Kamoshida. This is a very effective way to introduce an antagonist and give personal stakes to the cast. 

To bring some criticism however, I do think the game takes a while to really open up. It's likely due to the fact that I have played this game multiple times but it's really easy to feel the calender slow down the game. For the first several hours, there's no real RPG gameplay, no confidants, and not a lot of side activities to do, so it feels really slow. At this point, the focus is all setup and it's a short lived problem but moment to moment pacing is an issue with this game and the beginning is a stronger example of that. 

Following the introduction of Ann, Ryuji, Morgana, and the conclusion of Kamoshida's palace, the game starts to really open up. You're introduced to more confidants as well as the long term dungeon of mementos. I will admit, I'm sort of cheesing my way through this playthrough. I've beaten this game many times before, so I felt justified in busting out the broken DLC personas and going through everything with maxed out social stats. Admittedly this won't be a perfect reflection of the actual game but I've done it all enough times that I'm not feeling like I'm robbing myself of this experience. All that said, mementos is....fine. It's the Tartarus equivalent and personally I never liked the random dungeons in persona. Fortunately Royal adds a bit more variety to Mementos with new music in each layer as well as more options to mix things up and manipulate the RNG, but overall it's never been my favorite. 

Speaking of things that Royal added, we've also been introduced to two new characters by now; Maruki and Yoshizawa. We've met Yoshizawa in the intro scene in the casino. Unfortunately I think that is a problem with Royal. It's hard not to look at Yoshizawa as an added character. I think if she wasn't present in the casino, it would be less jarring. As a player, we know she's going to be a party member eventually, but the game teases her with added scenes and half of a confidant. It's very poorly implemented. I do think she's a very interesting character that I'll get into later, but I wish she was in the game more seamlessly. As for Maruki, I'll have more about his inclusion later as well. He is easily the most well written character in the game. 

The 2nd arc of the game involves the introduction of Yusuke as the next party member and Madarame as the antagonist. I think this is honestly one of the lower points in the game. There is something to be said about how Yusuke's story is quite relevant nowadays in the advent of plagiarism and AI slop. There's definitely a good message about the value and presentation of art. Unfortunately I find the actual progression of this arc to be not great. Madarame as a villain has way less personal stakes for the phantom thieves. Having the stake be "oh no he's gonna sue us in 2 weeks" is really weak, especially after the limited interaction the phantom thieves had with him up to that point. 

It all kind of falls on the new cast member, Yusuke. Yusuke's introduction is rather awkward and kinda comes out of nowhere. He just sort of gets involved on a whim of "you look good, let me paint you" and it's just weird. In addition, the way the phantom thieves learn about Madarame and what he does is very contrived by having a lot of info come from a character that shows up once and never again. I'm not sure how I would propose a different approach but I do feel Yusuke lacks character development in his lead up compared to Ann and Ryuji. Fortunately I do feel he makes up for it with more exposure to his very unique personality and how he interacts with the existing cast. He also gets more with the conclusion of Madarame's palace by learning about what happened to his mother which is nice.

The 3rd arc has the same problems with Madarame's but I do think it manages to make up for it with how Makoto is introduced. As I said in the last post, Makoto is my favorite character in the game. Her personality is very layered with how it presents her own conflict and personal life. When we first meet Makoto, she's kind of an awful person to the main characters. She's stalking you, constantly suspecting you, belittling you, and it's extremely off-putting. The more we see her though, it's clear she's going through her own problems, her lack of self worth and not wanting to feel like a pushover. It's a very natural progression leading up to Kaneshiro's palace and her involvement with the phantom thieves. Unfortunately Kaneshiro has the same problem with Madarame in that there's very little build up to him as a villain. The narrative frames him as a very generic mafia leader and I guess there's not much needed to understand why he sucks but it's not a very deep reason. I think this arc makes up for that by focusing on Makoto. She gets a great amount of screen time and development. 

At this point in the game, things feel like they're really in full gear. With Makoto on board, the party really feels like a fun diverse group of characters. I love all the downtime and slice of life moments in these games, and the cast of P5 is the most fun to experience that with in my opinion. 

With that said, the best part of the vanilla game is here with the introduction of Futaba. The conflict for the phantom thieves is pretty interesting at this point. While it's a little lame that the antagonistic force for this arc is a nameless, faceless organization but I think it works here. There's been a side goal of getting the phantom thieves' name out there and I like the idea of turning that into a double edged sword. This is a problem that went beyond their control and they can't easily solve it. What makes this section truly shine however is everything to do with Futaba. Her palace being a mini callback to Persona 4 is cool but also it provides for a very different kind of palace. One of the primary motifs of the phantom thieves up to that point is to help people who can't do so themselves and here it's taken to a much stronger extreme. 

I think my one problem with Futaba's palace was the fact that there was a twist with her mom and the source for blaming herself was the fact that she was lied to by other people. I know it's to fit within the overarching theme the base game has with "rotten adults" (and I'll get into my issues with how the game presents that later) but I think the impact would've been even stronger by focusing on the fact that the phantom thieves can help people even if there's no social injustice. I also think it would've provided much more interesting implications with Futaba's mental health and how twisted her perceived relationship with her mother got on its own rather than "oh she was tricked." It's a relatively minor detail though so it doesn't bother me too much but still one I'm not wild about.

Unfortunately following Futaba's palace is the lowest point in the game's narrative. It's something that everyone has probably talked about before, but it really is true how Morgana completely hijacks the story. It's just undeniably jarring and out of place. To have the act 3 break up with this game just doesn't work. It's framed in a way that Morgana feels useless now that the navigator role falls on Futaba and that there's a lack of appreciation for his presence. Off the bat, everyone in the phantom thieves butt heads with each other to some degree for the past dozens of hours, especially Ryuji and Morgana. It's really hard to feel a "straw that broke the camel's back moment when it's been a constant part of the character's relationship. Not only that, but this little hissy fit completely ruins the next party member, Haru. 

Haru is without a doubt my least favorite character in this game. She represents the game's troubled development. Originally, Haru was intended on being a sheltered pompous rich girl. Unfortunately knowing this makes the final character worse because to me, that is far more interesting than Bootleg Aerith. Normally I would approach the character trying to appreciate what's actually there but unfortunately her character development is damn near fully removed. She's existed as a background character for the whole game up to this point, and then she shows up out of NOWHERE with Morgana's little shit fit. Just speed run getting Haru into the phantom thieves. This character now exists in my head as nothing compared to something that could've been interesting and would've made for really fun character interactions. Fortunately it doesn't fully ruin the party dynamic. There are some fun lines of dialogue with her, but at the end of the day, she is woefully underdeveloped as a character, and it's all at the expense of a failed character development moment. 

To be nice for a sec though, there are some aspects of this chapter I do like. I think the phantom thieves having the attention get to their head is appropriate. It reminds me that they are teenagers and they're stupid. I just wish this part wasn't botched by a terrible 3rd act breakup that amounts to nothing. 

Immediately following the death of Okumura, the exams happen. This is an interesting part because previously, the student life and phantom thieves life were completely separate. Here, we see the impact of the phantom thieves being accused of murder during a period where the focus is exams. It finally brings the UI elements and passive dialogue into play where the people who were increasingly cheering you on start to turn and it creates a strong feeling of anxiety. This is something P5 does really well where the passive droplets of external influence impact how the player is intended to react. This will come up later but this is the first time it really hits. 

I love when Akechi joins the phantom thieves. Being aware of the twist makes it much more obvious with the telltale signs but also when he first shows up, he has Almighty moves. He ain't sticking around lol. I also just love the latter half of his new Social Link added in Royal. I'm very curious to know the opinion of Akechi to someone who hasn't played Vanilla. To me, it's obvious what they're going for but I find it fascinating they ended part of his S link with him more or less putting all the cards on the table. Verbatim "I hate you." Akechi is such a well written character. Leading up to him joining is great too. It's a very appropriate jump in stakes as well as Sojiro figuring it all out. 

As an absolute lover of heist films, I am a huge fan of the moment where you catch up to the present. It's contrived and convoluted but I can't hate it. It's so cool. I do think Sae's palace is pretty weak outside of its aesthetic though. The whole gambling mechanic is kinda boring and the layout is just bad. 

Now the final vanilla palace, Masayoshi Shido. I've been letting it mull over for a day or two on this replay. This is shit. It's not as jarring as this as we knew from the start Shido would be involved, but this is some Star Wars Episode 9 "Palpatine was behind it all" levels of villain writing. They go so hard making this evil politician being so unbelievably evil that it comes off as laughably cartoonish. HE was behind all of it. I know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards. It preaches to the choir too much. 

Maybe it's because I'm older and [gestures at everything] but I would very much like a core message that's anything other than the generic "rage against the machine" one that this game has to offer. I want a more nuanced take on this topic. What this game presents is downright childish. It's moments like the calling card that makes this entire game's take on social reform to feel so romanticized. Genuinely, watching that cutscene felt like this scene in War of the Worlds 2025. 

Once it's done though, then the base game's core message completely falls apart. I know a lot of folks sum up Persona 5 as "Rebel against society while conforming to it." I think that's putting it light. This isn't merely conforming to society, this is yearning for validation from it. The Phantom Thieves literally vanish from reality because nobody cares. This 11th hour villain is so half assed that it completely ruins any kind of message, childish or not, that this game tried to say. 

It reminds me of Makoto Shinkai's writing. I love Your Name but some of his other movies (in my head I'm thinking of Weathering With You) are so romanticized with its themes to the point where it just says nothing. They take time to set up a compelling sci-fi narrative, only to throw it all away at the end for a big emotional payoff and it just doesn't work for me. That's what's happening here and I don't like it. All that said, I really can't hate the imagery on display with the final sequence. The phan site meter has been a visible element for the entire game and it explodes with the power of friendship. I can't hate that. That will always work. 

Now that the base game is done, I see how flawed the original narrative was. I have a lot of things I like with this game. The cast is my favorite among the modern persona games. The slice of life aspects are fantastic and I'll always stand by that. Unfortunately what this game originally wanted to say falls flat. Fortunately this is not the case with the 3rd semester. What follows is meaningful and timeless. 

The 3rd semester content hits you like a fucking truck. First off Akechi is alive, he didn't die. Then Mona is a human and voiced by Bryce Papenbrook what the fuck? I'm very curious what someone who hasn't played Vanilla feels about the start of the 3rd semester because having experience with the original, it hits way harder. 

Off the bat, the MVP of this semester, without a doubt, is Akechi. He goes full mask off and he becomes the most deliciously detestable party member. He's so enraged by his situation yet he fully goes along with it. All the subtle changes to his portraits and just how he presents himself is such a strong contrast to the past 70 hours of this game. It really shows the strength of Robbie Daymond as a voice actor. His no nonsense approach to everything is just excellent. I love this character so much. 

Maruki as a villain is utterly fascinating. His intentions could not be more pure but his means and methods are downright sinister. In his palace, he has a moment where you have to choose what Maruki believes to be the right path for certain choices and what it says about him and what he forces onto everyone is miserable. Give up on your dreams, don't help anyone if it might be an inconvenience to you. Avoid any possible pain. Path of least resistance. Maruki believes that absolute happiness is what's best and his interpretation shown is downright evil. It provides a great counter to all the S links you've completed up to that point. We see how much his well intended view towards reality regresses the growth the entire cast has gone through up to that point. It's extremely well done. I also really like Yoshizawa. She's such a tragic character that further fuels the fact that Maruki's ideology is one of cowardice and prevents any growth. 

I love the lasting message of the new story. The scars of our pas aren't mistakes to be fixed. They're what make us who we are. It's a powerful message. I also really like the strong way of showing how Maruki believes in what he is doing down to his core with an MGS4 style boss fight. 

So yeah. Persona 5. My goals with replaying this was to appreciate this game again. I think in that regard, it was successful. I really like the cast and having this and this replay shows me just how strong the characterization was in this game. Unfortunately I do think that I have a lot more criticisms with the game. The story in the base game fails to land and fails to deliver a meaningful statement about social reform. That's been a constant criticism I've seen with P5 and I think I really agree with it now. 

All that said I really like this game. I feel like I can appreciate what this game does right again and I'm glad I replayed it. 

Til next time in 10 years where I feel this all over again. This whole blog post was written across several weeks so if it's incomprehensible in parts, I apologize.